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Florida State Seminoles strength and conditioning coach Josh Storms gets players warmed up. The Seminoles work on stepping up their game in the offseason during a spring practice, Thursday, March 12, 2020. Alicia Devine/Tallahassee Democrat

Florida State Seminoles strength and conditioning coach Josh Storms gets players warmed up. The Seminoles work on stepping up their game in the offseason during a spring practice, Thursday, March 12, 2020. Alicia Devine/Tallahassee Democrat

Florida State Seminoles head coach Mike Norvell coaches a player during a drill. The Seminoles work on stepping up their game in the offseason during a spring practice, Thursday, March 12, 2020. Alicia Devine/Tallahassee Democrat

On Feb. 10, the Florida State defensive tackles coach underwent a long-overdue procedure, a total replacement of his right knee.

If you ask him now, it's something he should have done a long time ago.

"I've been dealing with pain the last 12 or 14 years," Haggins told the Democrat.

"As a football player back in the day, we're taught to deal with things."

Looking back now, Haggins sees the error of his way and the years of activity he lost out on by barreling through and ignoring the pain.

"For the first month after I got it, I beat myself up (thinking), 'Why did I let this last so long without taking care of myself?'" Haggins said.

Florida State interim head coach Odell Haggins watches teams warm up before an NCAA college football game against Boston College, Saturday, Nov. 9, 2019, in Boston. (AP Photo/Bill Sikes)(Photo: Bill Sikes, AP)

"I'll never forget my daughter, when she was four years old, she said, 'Daddy, I'll race you, I wanna race you.' I said, 'Baby, daddy can't run no more.' That right there, it struck me.

"Things like that, when you've got a kid asking you to race, run around and you can't do it anymore, that's what is tough. That's what stuck in my mind throughout these years and years. Now, I've got this knee replacement, I can be a lot more active. She sees it now."

In spite of the coronavirus pandemic spanning the world right now, Haggins is still continuing to recover and undergo rehabilitation while embracing his continuing role on the FSU coaching staff, this time under new head football coach Mike Norvell, who Haggins credits for allowing him to get the procedure done.

"(This is the) first time I'm able to go out and just take care of my body thanks to Mike. Coach Norvell, he understood I needed to get a knee replacement and he supported me 100% and that's great..." Haggins said.

"(Rehab is) going pretty good. When we finish meeting in the morning, the coaching staff, the defensive staff, I go rehab for an hour and a half, two hours. Just trying to build the strength back up and the stability of the knee."

While there are challenges that come from the physical part of rehabilitating, Haggins says the mental side of it is the toughest part.

"When you're an athlete, the level you play at, train at, you're thinking, 'Well, I'll get back in, I'll get going.' But no, no, no, it's not like that. That knee will shut you down, tell you what to do, when it's ready to go, things like that, but you still have to do the rehab," Haggins said.

"That's the way it is. It has taught me a lesson at 53 years old: Slow down, take your time, take care of your body."

Because he started rehabbing at FSU before the pandemic shut everything down, he's still able to continue visiting Doak Campbell Stadium to continue rehabbing while nearly everyone else -- including the entire FSU coaching staff -- is forced to remain at home.

The FSU rehab facility has a different feel now as the number of simultaneous visitors is severely limited and each person is required to have their temperature taken before an appointment to ensure they're not showing coronavirus symptoms.

Seeing the building where he's spent the last 26 years of his career vacant still draws a reaction from the longstanding FSU coach on occasion, sometimes forcing him to take a moment and let out a "wow" that no one hears.

Haggins' recovery forced him to watch silently from a golf cart while letting a graduate assistant take over his coaching duties for the first three FSU practices. There was hope he could return to coaching after spring break, but the remaining 12 practices were canceled.

Whenever the 2020 season happens, it will be Haggins' 27th on the FSU sidelines as a coach. He becomes the longest-tenured assistant coach in college football this upcoming season, an honor he takes over with the retirement of longtime Virginia Tech defensive coordinator Bud Foster after the 2019 season.

It's fitting that he'll take over this honor while coaching a group of FSU defensive tackles that should be the strength of the Seminoles' defense. In fact, it may be the best group of defensive tackles in the country.

"I always tell my guys how hard we work all season and then in the summertime, we're building a tolerance level. How hard can we push ourselves? Can we push ourselves to the top? Can we push ourselves faster? Each kid has got to have that mentality to never stop, never quit because if you quit once, it's easy to quit the next time," Haggins said.

"These guys, they can be a darn good group of defensive tackles because you know they've got the ability, they've got the experience...They're athletic, they're big and they can run."

Reach Curt Weiler at cweiler@tallahassee.com or follow him on Twitter @CurtMWeiler.